Film Details

Abendland

Austria | 2011 | Nikolaus Geyhalter

Europe’s obsession with technology and security is depicted in a series of visually stunning vignettes shot at night in 10 different countries. As he did in Our Daily Bread, his emotionally cool 2005 overview of industrial food production in Europe, director Nikolaus Geyrhalter shuns music, interviews, and narration in favor of chilly, dispassionate, gorgeously lensed long shots—here of border patrols, beer halls, sex clubs, nursing homes, raves, et al. The end result is a dyspeptic portrait of modern Europe far removed from travel brochures. “Perhaps the most mordant statement of (Geyrhalter’s) fascinating career.” –Variety.